David Chandler's Night Sky Planisphere (Large) - 40°-50° North

Product Info

Manufacturer Description

Sky & Telescope magazine adopted David Chandler's Night SkyPlanisphere in 1976 and has promoted it ever since. The Night Sky is widely recognized by the amateur astronomy and educational communities as the overall best planisphere on the market!

David Chandler Company's plastic planispheres are available in Large and Small sizesSizes: Large (10" x 8.5") with 8" diameter map, Small (6.25" x 5") with 5" diameter map Latitude Ranges: 20°-30°, 30°-40°, 40°-50°, 50°-60° North

The Night Sky Planisphere is printed with dark stars on a light background for easy nighttime readability. The constellations are drawn simply, emphasizing the brighter stars. Coordinate grid lines are shown without being intrusive. A selection of deep sky objects for binocular viewing is included. With instructions printed on the back for handy reference you will be locating constellations and select deep sky objects within minutes.

These versions are made in the USA using durable plastic facing for the front and back and are secured with no-corrosion brass rivets. These planispheres are built to last; you will probably go through several telescope upgrades in your lifetime but will never need to upgrade your planisphere.

Selecting the Right Chart for Your Latitude

You should choose a planisphere version based on the location (your latitude) from which you will be observing. Each latitude version of The Night Sky is optimized for the specific latitude zone to provide accurate horizons and minimum distortion.

You can refer to the maps below to help choose the correct latitude version. If you are located directly on a separator line, either planisphere will work well, but we recommend you purchase the one closer to the equator.

The Distortion Solution! Conventional planispheres severely distort the sky near the southern horizon. The distortion results from trying to stretch the whole dome of the sky onto a single flat map. The Night Sky is NOT a conventional planisphere! No flat map can remove all distortion, but The Night Sky eliminates over 90% of the distortion inherent in conventional 1-sided planispheres.

The Night Sky is Designed to be Used!

- Unlike coffee-table planispheres, The Night Sky is printed with dark stars on a light background, for easy nighttime readability.

- The constellations are drawn simply, emphasizing the brighter stars. (The constellation patterns were designed in collaboration with the editors of Sky & Telescope magazine.)

- Coordinate grid lines are shown without being intrusive. Coordinates are shown because they can be useful for cross referencing with star atlases.

- A selection of deep sky objects for binocular viewing is included. It is important to point out to beginners that the best first telescope is a pair of binoculars. You may already have what it takes to start observing tonight!

- The Night Sky is larger than it looks! The map scale is larger than on similar-size planispheres because the whole sky does not have to be shown on a single map. Even the 5" pocket version is large enough to be very readable. Actual size is 10 x 8.5 x .15 in.

Reviews

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Review by James F.

1550412160

Feb 17, 2019

5.0The Night Sky, meridian transits

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The Night Sky enjoys universal praise as a tool for identifying celestial objects. It is equally valuable for identifying when a celestial object, say Regulus, will cross an observer's meridian. Simply place Regulus on a line through both punched holes, then scan all the date/time pairs below the horizon. An 8 inch diameter/360 degree protractor is a convenient tool for visualizing the line.

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Review by GARY S.

1540757729

Oct 28, 2018

5.0Planispheres Rule.

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This is a wonderful tool. It works in the field and is also quite a nice educational aid to learn the night sky. I used to spend time printing star charts, or dragging out a full book of charts from which I only needed one or two pages. Now, If I am taking out a scope, for visual or photographic use, my planisphere is with me. It is also very helpful if you align a GEM mount and you need to choose between a star in Grus or Cetus. Good luck findig those by memory! This is also very nice for forecasting up coming skies in the months ahead. As we all suffer through more cloudy weather than ever, it is important to plan ahead and be prepared to get the most out of that night of decent conditions. It doesnt show all the Messier objects, or a lot of galaxies, but it has all you need to get busy and get the most out of your equipment. It also avoids the common problem most magazines giving you when they provide only a 10pm sky chart. Some of the best conditions occur much later in the night, and a planisphere can show you the sky for any date or time of the day or night you choose.

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Review by Michael B.

1499719093

Jul 10, 2017

5.0Nice product!

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This planisphere turned out to be everything I expected. And, I was very pleased with the quality of manufacture. Easy to read by red-light, type size great for my aged eyes (this is the larger size item). I am sure I will have this for a long time to come.

5.0Best Planisphere I&#x27;ve Seen!

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I can't improve on "alanoodle's" review but I just wanted to say how easy this aid is to read- day and night. I have the Pocket Sky Atlas (jumbo) but for speedy location of primary constellations and targets, this planisphere can't be topped!

5.0The Night Sky Planisphere

Pros:

Low-distortion chart,Durable,Moisture proof plastic,Easy to read

Cons:

Glare from flashlight

Comments:

The Night Sky from David Chandler is like other planispheres. It has a plastic-laminated star wheel mounted in a cover with an oval window. Rotating the wheel and matching the date with the local standard time shows a pretty accurate representation of the constellations visible in that window.

The easy to read chart, printed with blue stars and markings on a white background also shows the Celestial Equator and the Ecliptic as well as equatorial R.A. markers at 3h intervals, each with cross hatches marking off Declination in 10 degree intervals. Also marked off are some brighter Deep Space Objects and various markers like the Summer Triangle, the Winter Hexagon and the Milky Way.

The Night Sky is different from other planispheres because of one feature. If you compare the visible stars on the chart with the actual sky, you'll find that the southernmost 30 degrees or so is cut off at the perimeter of the chart. Flip The Night Sky on its back, however and you'll see a planisphere chart of the Southern horizon to an altitude of about 50 degrees with much less distortion than you'd normally see in a one-sided planisphere.

If The Night Sky planisphere has any shortcomings, it's that the glossy plastic may cause some glare when a flashlight (preferably a red one) is shined on it. This can be avoided by making sure that a flashlight is aimed at an angle.

In conclusion, David Chandler's The Night Sky would be just another decent planisphere except for the unique 2-sided design which makes it a better planisphere. The Night Sky actually improves on a long time proven design.

5.0The Night Sky Planisphere

The Night Sky from David Chandler is like other planispheres. It has a plastic-laminated star wheel mounted in a cover with an oval window. Rotating the wheel and matching the date with the local standard time shows a pretty accurate representation of the constellations visible in that window.

The easy to read chart, printed with blue stars and markings on a white background also shows the Celestial Equator and the Ecliptic as well as equatorial R.A. markers at 3h intervals, each with cross hatches marking off Declination in 10 degree intervals. Also marked off are some brighter Deep Space Objects and various markers like the Summer Triangle, the Winter Hexagon and the Milky Way.

The Night Sky is different from other planispheres because of one feature. If you compare the visible stars on the chart with the actual sky, you'll find that the southernmost 30 degrees or so is cut off at the perimeter of the chart. Flip The Night Sky on its back, however and you'll see a planisphere chart of the Southern horizon to an altitude of about 50 degrees with much less distortion than you'd normally see in a one-sided planisphere.

If The Night Sky planisphere has any shortcomings, it's that the glossy plastic may cause some glare when a flashlight (preferably a red one) is shined on it. This can be avoided by making sure that a flashlight is aimed at an angle.

In conclusion, David Chandler's The Night Sky would be just another decent planisphere except for the unique 2-sided design which makes it a better planisphere. The Night Sky actually improves on a long time proven design.